Spurs and Fulham meet in a hastily rearranged London derby this evening that has sparked a war of words between Jose Mourinho and Scott Parker.
Fulham boss Parker labelled the Premier League’s decision to schedule the game for Wednesday night as scandalous, giving the Cottagers 48 hours’ notice following their FA Cup win at QPR last weekend.
However, Mourinho was unimpressed by those comments given that this game – originally scheduled for December 20 – was initially postponed with less than two hours’ notice.
The Spurs boss claimed that Parker would owe him an apology if Fulham (who have struggled with an outbreak of Covid-19) turned up with a strong starting XI, and Fulham’s near full-strength lineup will add extra spice to this capital derby.
Spurs will also be looking to keep the pressure on League leaders Manchester United, while Fulham – unbeaten in their last four games – need to get points on the board as they prepare for a relegation dogfight.
Live updates
1 mins: An early free-kick for Fulham takes a deflection, but falls kindly for Lloris. Two Spurs players are down, but fine to continue.
Despite their pre-match war of words, Mourinho and Parker embraced before kick-off. Nice to see.
Kick-off!
We are underway in north London.
The teams are in the tunnel, and we’re almost ready to go. Kane looks determined – if you wanted to sum up that face, it’s saying: ‘Hat-trick.’
Dan Kilpatrick at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Here’s what our Spurs correspondent makes of tonight’s team news…
So, as Jose Mourinho predicted, Fulham are close to full strength. I doubt Scott Parker will be extending that apology any time soon, however…
Fulham team news
Starting XI: Areola, Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo, Tete, Loftus-Cheek, Reed, Zambo, Robinson, Ivan Cavaleiro, Reid
Subs: Hector, Kebano, Rodak, Ream, Lookman, Bryan, Onomah, Kongolo, Kamara
Spurs team news
Starting XI: Lloris, Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Reguilon, Winks, Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Ndombele, Son, Kane
Subs: Doherty, Alderweireld, Bale, Lamela, Hart, Alli, Lucas Moura, Davies, Vinicius
Tottenham vs Fulham head to head (h2h) results
Last meeting: Fulham 1-2 Spurs (January 20, 2019)
Tottenham vs Fulham prediction: 3-0 Spurs win
With the visitors likely set to field a weakened team and Mourinho able to rest a host of star players at the weekend, anything other than a convincing home win is unlikely.
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